China economy likely to grow by 10% in 2006
(AP)
Updated: 2006-06-26 16:24
China's central bank says booming exports should push economic growth to 10
percent this year, surpassing the 2005 rate despite efforts to cool off a
roaring expansion, state media reported Monday.
The economy should grow by 10.3 percent in the first six months of the year
before easing off in the second half, the bank said in a report released over
the weekend, according to news reports.
China's economy has repeatedly overshot official targets, growing by 9.9
percent in 2005 and by 10.3 percent in the first quarter of this year.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported this weekend that China's trade is
expected to rise by 20 percent this year. The report didn't cite any sources.
China's trade surplus is likely to rise to between US$120 billion and US$130
billion (euro96 billion and euro104 billion) this year, up from US$102 billion
in 2005, the newspaper China Securities Journal reported, citing Bi Jingquan,
deputy director of the National Reform and Development Commission.
The government has tried to rein in what it considers excessive investment in
real estate, factories and other assets by tightening bank lending rules and
raising interest rates.
But Chinese leaders still want strong growth to reduce poverty.
"China is still a developing country," the Shanghai Daily newspaper quoted
central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan as saying. "We need growth. We need it to
solve a lot of economic problems. We need it to have a poverty
reduction."
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